Modern Languages with International Relations

This course offers you the opportunity to combine the study of Modern Languages (75% of the course) with International Relations (25%), and spend your third year abroad.

As a Modern Languages student you will gain fluency in a language of your choice - French or Spanish. Whether you start at beginners’, advanced or native-speaker level, you will study the core language components, gaining skills in writing, reading, speaking and listening, with teaching led by native speakers.

You will also have the opportunity to explore International Relations, covering themes such as war and security, diplomacy and development, globalisation and global power relations, communication and resistance, and international political economy. You will gain a solid foundation in the history of international relations and IR theory – allowing you to understand better the complexity of contemporary global governance and the theories that explain it.

In your third year you will have the exciting opportunity to spend a year working, teaching or studying abroad when you will immerse yourself in the language and culture, truly broadening your horizons in the process.

• Our Modern Languages research staff are engaged in research at the highest level internationally; we are in the top 10 of UK Modern Language departments for research quality and the top in London (Research Assessment Exercise 2014).

• On graduation you will have language and analytical skills in one or more modern languages, together with additional knowledge of culture, society and history, culture and society that will give you a valuable competitive edge in an increasingly globalised world.

• We have an active and engaged student community, and there are opportunities to take part in debating, Model United Nations and party political societies on campus.

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

• Critical Analysis for Linguists

• Introduction to International Relations

• All modules are optional

• French Ab Initio Oral I

• French Ab Initio Written I

• French Advanced Oral I

• French Advanced Written I

• German Ab Initio Written I

• German Ab Initio Oral I

• German Advanced Written I

• German Advanced Oral I

• Italian Ab Initio Written I

• Italian Ab Initio Oral I

• Italian Advanced Written I

• Italian Advanced Oral I

• Spanish Ab Initio Written I

• Spanish Ab Initio Oral I

• Spanish Advanced Written I

• Spanish Advanced Oral I

Year 2

• International Relations Theory

• All modules are optional

• Intensive French for Beginners II

• French Language II

• Intensive Beginners’ German II

• German Language II

• Advanced Italian II for Post Beginners

• Italian Language II

• Intensive Spanish II

• Spanish Language II

Year 3

• Year Abroad Placement: Intercultural Competency and Professional Skills

Year 4

• Pratique du Français III

• German Language III

• Advanced Italian III

• Spanish III

Optional Modules

For more information on optional modules available as part of the Modern Languages part of your course, please see the list here: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/languages-literatures-and-cultures/modern-languages/

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/languages-literatures-and-cultures/modern-languages-with-international-relations/

The course has a modular structure, whereby students take 14 course units at the rate of four per year in years 1, 2 and 4 and two in the year abroad. Some course units are compulsory while others are elective thereby offering flexibility and choice.

Every course is assessed using a varied range of methods such as coursework and end of year examinations. You produce coursework such as essays, language exercises, translations, or reports at regular intervals and the marks you receive for these pieces of work count towards your final mark. We also use oral presentations and computer-based tests to assess grammar and comprehension skills in some course units.
The first year is foundational and marks do not count towards your final degree. The second year, year abroad and final year marks do count, with more importance being given to the final year marks in order to reward progress and achievement.